Images: ©Jouko Lehmuskallio
Mugwort
Artemisia vulgaris
- Family: Daisy Family – Asteraceae (Compositae)
- Growing form: Perennial herb.
- Height: 50–150 (–200) cm (20–60–80 in.)
- Flower: Reddish-brown tubular florets grouped together into small flower-like heads (capitula), 2.5–3 mm (0.1–0.12 in.) across. Outer florets female, inner bisexual. Corolla of 5 fused petals. Calyx absent, pappus not present. Stamens 5, anthers united into a tube around the style. Pistil of 2 fused carpels, style solitary, stigma 2-lobed. Capitulum subtended by several whorls of woolly involucral bracts. Capitula stalkless, borne in erect, lax leafy racemes, up to several hundreds on a single plant.
- Leaves: Alternate, stipulate. Lower leaves short-stalked, upper stalkless. Blade deeply pinnately lobed, green and sparsely hairy above, whitish-hairy beneath. Lobes slender, toothed. Structure of leaves varies greatly.
- Fruit: A small, yellowish, almost smooth, oblong cypsela.
- Habitat: Waste ground, roadsides, yards, meadows, watersides, seashores.
- Flowering time: August–October.
The perennial mugwort is a weed of various waste places. Its overall colour is greyish-green. The species favours disturbed, nutrient-rich places, like the tansy (Tanacetum vulgare) and some burdocks (Arctium spp.). In Finland, there is also a seashore variety of this species, var. coarcata. The mugwort is an infliction of many allergists. Its pollen brings forth over-sensitivity which often is manifested as hay fever.
